By AWZAR THI
Column: Rule of Lords
February 7, 2008 - HONG KONG, China, For anyone grappling with the thorny problem of assigning a financial value to human life, help is at hand. Insurance companies of the world, rejoice: Burma's Defense Ministry has definitively established that one life is worth a bit less than six US dollars.
In November 2006 a low-ranking army officer came to the suburban Rangoon home of a young mother. He told her that her husband had died of malaria in a mountainous border region some three months before, while serving an infantry battalion.
How Htun Htun Naing got there in the first place is unclear. He was not a soldier. The 31-year-old had been arrested and imprisoned for gambling. Apparently he had been taken from jail and sent to carry materials for the military in the rugged war-ravaged east.
The government of Burma openly uses prisoners on labor projects. Home Ministry publications include accounts and photographs of farms and quarries where the workforce consists of inmates. Corrections Department signboards dot roads around the countryside and criminal sentences are typically for rigorous imprisonment.
However, the government has persistently denied that it uses convicts as army porters, despite numerous reports to the contrary. Human rights defenders claim that the number of prisoners used to carry supplies has increased in recent years as the number of local villagers forcibly conscripted to work has decreased. The videotaped testimonies and wounds of escaped inmates are compelling evidence.
In any event, the officer visiting Htun Htun Naing's family advised them that they should go to the concerned battalion's headquarters to look into the matter. He collected some personal documents with which to process the case but left them with nothing: neither a doctor's report nor a medical certificate to verify his account.
Htun Htun Naing's wife, struggling to raise her three small children, was in no position to travel to an army camp halfway across the country. She continued her work as usual and waited to hear more.
So it was until the following year, when the family received a letter. The form inside, dated Jan. 30 and issued by the ministry accounts office, acknowledged the death/injury of U Htun Htun Naing, son of U Myint Shwe, in the service of Infantry Battalion 250 based at Loikaw. It informed the family that in accordance with an instruction from operation headquarters, the amount of 7,200 kyat had been cleared for payment as compensation by the Myanmar Economic Bank within the financial year.
How did the ministry do its math? No criteria were given, nor supporting documents affixed. The family still has not received anything to prove that Htun Htun Naing really died as they have been told, let alone details of how he ended up working for IB 250 in the first place. All they have is this scrap of paper granting them a miserable 7,200 kyat.
Their experience is very far removed from the global standards on satisfactory redress for victims of rights abuses.
According to the United Nations principles on remedies and reparations, adopted by the General Assembly in 2005, these should be "adequate, effective, prompt and appropriate." Compensation should be "proportional to the gravity of the ... harm suffered."
Gabriela Echeverria, a legal adviser to the group REDRESS, has written that the principles "have been used as the basis for new remedies in national and international fora" and have become "a standard for governments when implementing administrative measures."
While this may be true of some countries in Europe, and perhaps increasingly in the Americas, the notion that persons who have suffered some wrongdoing at the hands of the state deserve appropriate recompense, in addition to other remedies, is still remote to most parts of Asia.
The government of Thailand offered the equivalent of around US$7,500 to each of the families of 92 dead and missing at the hands of the army after the infamous Tak Bai incident of 2004; not one officer has ever been prosecuted, despite overwhelming evidence of systemic negligence.
In Nepal, the maximum amount that can be awarded to a torture victim is a bit over US$1,000, no matter how serious the injuries suffered. And whereas the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka had previously ordered that victims of torture there be paid highly, in recent years it has reduced the sums ordered to barely a few hundred dollars.
There are of course many opinions about the meaning of words like "adequate" and "appropriate" when it comes to the pecuniary losses of human rights abuse victims, but by any standards the payments to those in Asia are paltry at best, and the payments to those in Burma, if forthcoming at all, are evidently intended only to add insult to injury.
Htun Htun Naing's family has made a complaint anyhow. They have not dared to ask for justice or even more details of how he died. Just for a review of the case and a little more money, please. So far they have heard nothing. There seems little chance that they will. They may not have proof of his death, but they have ample proof that in Burma life really is cheap; perhaps even more so than anyone had imagined.
--
(Awzar Thi is the pen name of a member of the Asian Human Rights Commission with over 15 years of experience as an advocate of human rights and the rule of law in Thailand and Burma. His Rule of Lords blog can be read at http://ratchasima.net)
Source: Up Asia Online
Friday, 8 February 2008
Burmese MI hunting monks in exile
Authorities Hunt Exiled Monks
Narinjara
February 7, 2008 - Dhaka: Burmese military authorities have been searching for two monks who recently escaped to Bangladesh in their native village in Irrawaddy Division of Burma's delta region, said U Painya Dissa.
The authorities searched the village one week after the two monks had arrived in Bangladesh in their escape from Burma and the junta.
U Painya Dissa said, "Officials from the military intelligence unit first went to Mula Mingun monastery in the town of Pyapon on 29 January to search for me, because I usually visit the monastery on 29 or 30 January every year to meet with my senior abbot there."
U Painya Dissa was living in the Mula Mingun monastery several years ago and was initiated as a monk there.
"Afterward, the authorities went to my village to look for me. The officials searched my village monastery and my houses, and asked several questions of my family, but did not arrest any of my relatives," said the monk.
U Painya Dissa's native village is Wradan Shay located in Bokalay Township of Irrawaddy Division, where his family remains.
U Painya Dissa and one other monk, U Thawa Ra, escaped to Bangladesh from Burma in the third week of January 2008 as they feared the authority would arrest them.
The two monks were involved in leading the recent monk protests in the Saffron Revolution, and they are still executive members of the monk delegation unit that was formed by monks from the seven states and seven divisions of Burma.
The two monks are now staying at Rakhine monasteries in Bangladesh and the UNHCR Dhaka office has also issued a certificate to them for security purposes.
Source: Narinjara
Narinjara
February 7, 2008 - Dhaka: Burmese military authorities have been searching for two monks who recently escaped to Bangladesh in their native village in Irrawaddy Division of Burma's delta region, said U Painya Dissa.
The authorities searched the village one week after the two monks had arrived in Bangladesh in their escape from Burma and the junta.
U Painya Dissa said, "Officials from the military intelligence unit first went to Mula Mingun monastery in the town of Pyapon on 29 January to search for me, because I usually visit the monastery on 29 or 30 January every year to meet with my senior abbot there."
U Painya Dissa was living in the Mula Mingun monastery several years ago and was initiated as a monk there.
"Afterward, the authorities went to my village to look for me. The officials searched my village monastery and my houses, and asked several questions of my family, but did not arrest any of my relatives," said the monk.
U Painya Dissa's native village is Wradan Shay located in Bokalay Township of Irrawaddy Division, where his family remains.
U Painya Dissa and one other monk, U Thawa Ra, escaped to Bangladesh from Burma in the third week of January 2008 as they feared the authority would arrest them.
The two monks were involved in leading the recent monk protests in the Saffron Revolution, and they are still executive members of the monk delegation unit that was formed by monks from the seven states and seven divisions of Burma.
The two monks are now staying at Rakhine monasteries in Bangladesh and the UNHCR Dhaka office has also issued a certificate to them for security purposes.
Source: Narinjara
No Shan State, no union, says Shan leader
By Kwarn Lake
February 8, 2008 - “If there was no Shan State, there wouldn’t be this National Day of Shan State. And if there was no Shan State National Day, there wouldn’t be the Union of Burma,” stated Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) Chairman Col Yawd Serk during the ceremony.
Representatives of different ethnic groups such as Lahu and Pa-O attended as well as non-Shan State parties such as Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP).
“It is fantastic”, Ad Carabao expressed his feeling on the event. Ad is a famous Thai rock singer who has been involved with the Shan movement for more than 15 years, even before Col. Yawd Serk became the leader.
“It is my second visit, but it is the first time that I have the opportunity to participate in Shan State National day,” he added.
“I want the people of Shan State to be united, to obey the law of the host countries when they are outside of Shan State and to educate themselves in order to benefit the country,” said Yawd Serk in the post celebration press conference.
He also added SSA will continue its fight against drugs in Shan State, and oppose whoever is trying to destroy the environment.
7th February was designated as the national day following the founding of the Shan States Council in 1947 that challenged British rule. The event paved the way for the signing of the historic Panglong Agreement with Aung San, Burmese leader and the father of Aung San Suu Kyi, on 12 February and independence on 4 January 1948.
Source: Shan Herald Agency for News
February 8, 2008 - “If there was no Shan State, there wouldn’t be this National Day of Shan State. And if there was no Shan State National Day, there wouldn’t be the Union of Burma,” stated Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) Chairman Col Yawd Serk during the ceremony.
Representatives of different ethnic groups such as Lahu and Pa-O attended as well as non-Shan State parties such as Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP).
“It is fantastic”, Ad Carabao expressed his feeling on the event. Ad is a famous Thai rock singer who has been involved with the Shan movement for more than 15 years, even before Col. Yawd Serk became the leader.
“It is my second visit, but it is the first time that I have the opportunity to participate in Shan State National day,” he added.
“I want the people of Shan State to be united, to obey the law of the host countries when they are outside of Shan State and to educate themselves in order to benefit the country,” said Yawd Serk in the post celebration press conference.
He also added SSA will continue its fight against drugs in Shan State, and oppose whoever is trying to destroy the environment.
7th February was designated as the national day following the founding of the Shan States Council in 1947 that challenged British rule. The event paved the way for the signing of the historic Panglong Agreement with Aung San, Burmese leader and the father of Aung San Suu Kyi, on 12 February and independence on 4 January 1948.
Source: Shan Herald Agency for News
China and Myanmar Our friends in the north
KYAUKPHYU February 7, 2008 From The Economist print edition
Shunned by the West, Myanmar is developing ever closer commercial links with its neighbours, especially China
MOST locals, who are lucky if they enjoy two hours of electricity an evening, are unaware of their region's bounty: South-East Asia's biggest proven gas reserve lies in the Shwe field, just off the coast of Ramree Island. This year work will begin on a pipeline to carry these riches to China. From perhaps as early as late 2009, a parallel pipe will carry Middle Eastern and African oil from a new deep-water harbour at Kyaukphyu, bypassing the Strait of Malacca and fuelling the economy of China's south-west.
The site of the harbour, like the former fishing grounds where the gas lies, is now strictly out of bounds to locals. Despite a small poster campaign by underground activists, few people here know much about it. Those who do are worried. According to one, farmers fear losing their land. They have good reason for concern, judging from the mass dispossessions and human-rights abuses that surrounded the construction of earlier pipelines from the south to Thailand. Residents of nearby Baday Island have already been told that they must leave.
China is not the only country in the region nervous about its “energy security” and thus hungry for Myanmar's energy resources. India also hoped to buy the Shwe (“golden”) gas, offering the government soft loans and other inducements. In August India signed a $150m contract for gas exploration further south in the Gulf of Martaban. One day India hopes to build its own pipeline into its poor, remote, insurgency-ridden north-eastern states.
Until the Shwe gas comes on stream, Myanmar's biggest export market will remain Thailand. In purchases worth $2 billion a year, Thailand's electricity authority imports gas from the Yadana and Yetagun fields. But China offers the Burmese junta particular advantages. As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, it can veto threatening resolutions, as it did a year ago (just three days before it secured exploration rights to three more offshore blocks near Ramree).
There are even reports that Myanmar may soon start conducting all its Chinese trade in the Chinese currency, the yuan. This sounds odd, since it is not fully convertible and Myanmar expects soon to have a large trade surplus. The rationale would be to avoid Western banking sanctions. American measures introduced after the crushing of monk-led protests last September hurt Burmese financial interests in Singapore. This week, America tightened sanctions on the ruling junta's families.
Chinese trade extends beyond energy. The new pipelines will follow the route of the old British-built Burma Road, which still carries timber, gold, gemstones and other Burmese raw materials north to China and brings in cheap manufactures. Around 20 Chinese companies are working in Myanmar on scores of projects including hydropower, mining and road-building as well as oil and gas. Ruili, the main border-crossing between northern Myanmar and China's province of Yunnan, has become a seedy boomtown.
Under construction, and soon to eclipse the Burma Road is a new “Southern Silk Road”, linking India to China across northern Myanmar. Parts of the long-derelict route were first opened by the Allies during the second world war to supply Chiang Kai-shek's Chinese army in its war with the Japanese. Today it gels neatly both with India's determination to develop the north-east and with China's plans to close the gap between its booming east coast and the laggardly western interior. Yunnan needs energy supplies and markets, and its businesses and officials are little bothered by the human-rights concerns that have led some Western governments to impose limited sanctions.
Shunned by the West, Myanmar is developing ever closer commercial links with its neighbours, especially China
MOST locals, who are lucky if they enjoy two hours of electricity an evening, are unaware of their region's bounty: South-East Asia's biggest proven gas reserve lies in the Shwe field, just off the coast of Ramree Island. This year work will begin on a pipeline to carry these riches to China. From perhaps as early as late 2009, a parallel pipe will carry Middle Eastern and African oil from a new deep-water harbour at Kyaukphyu, bypassing the Strait of Malacca and fuelling the economy of China's south-west.The site of the harbour, like the former fishing grounds where the gas lies, is now strictly out of bounds to locals. Despite a small poster campaign by underground activists, few people here know much about it. Those who do are worried. According to one, farmers fear losing their land. They have good reason for concern, judging from the mass dispossessions and human-rights abuses that surrounded the construction of earlier pipelines from the south to Thailand. Residents of nearby Baday Island have already been told that they must leave.
China is not the only country in the region nervous about its “energy security” and thus hungry for Myanmar's energy resources. India also hoped to buy the Shwe (“golden”) gas, offering the government soft loans and other inducements. In August India signed a $150m contract for gas exploration further south in the Gulf of Martaban. One day India hopes to build its own pipeline into its poor, remote, insurgency-ridden north-eastern states.
Until the Shwe gas comes on stream, Myanmar's biggest export market will remain Thailand. In purchases worth $2 billion a year, Thailand's electricity authority imports gas from the Yadana and Yetagun fields. But China offers the Burmese junta particular advantages. As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, it can veto threatening resolutions, as it did a year ago (just three days before it secured exploration rights to three more offshore blocks near Ramree).
There are even reports that Myanmar may soon start conducting all its Chinese trade in the Chinese currency, the yuan. This sounds odd, since it is not fully convertible and Myanmar expects soon to have a large trade surplus. The rationale would be to avoid Western banking sanctions. American measures introduced after the crushing of monk-led protests last September hurt Burmese financial interests in Singapore. This week, America tightened sanctions on the ruling junta's families.
Chinese trade extends beyond energy. The new pipelines will follow the route of the old British-built Burma Road, which still carries timber, gold, gemstones and other Burmese raw materials north to China and brings in cheap manufactures. Around 20 Chinese companies are working in Myanmar on scores of projects including hydropower, mining and road-building as well as oil and gas. Ruili, the main border-crossing between northern Myanmar and China's province of Yunnan, has become a seedy boomtown.
Under construction, and soon to eclipse the Burma Road is a new “Southern Silk Road”, linking India to China across northern Myanmar. Parts of the long-derelict route were first opened by the Allies during the second world war to supply Chiang Kai-shek's Chinese army in its war with the Japanese. Today it gels neatly both with India's determination to develop the north-east and with China's plans to close the gap between its booming east coast and the laggardly western interior. Yunnan needs energy supplies and markets, and its businesses and officials are little bothered by the human-rights concerns that have led some Western governments to impose limited sanctions.
Taunggok NLD protestors charged and released
By Naw Say Phaw
Feb 7, 2008 (DVB)–Two National League for Democracy members who were arrested for staging a small protest have been charged and released, and claim they were beaten while in detention.
NLD members Ko Than Htay and Ko Zaw Naing, from Taunggok township, Arakan state, were arrested on 22 January after they rode around the township on bicycles shouting out pro-democracy slogans.
They were charged with violating movement restrictions, despite not being subject to any such restrictions, and released by Taunggok township court on the afternoon of 5 February.
Zaw Naing said that the judge told them they were charged with movement restriction violation because it was a minor offence that would not incur a heavy penalty.
“The judge said we could be released without any harsh punishments for this offence, whereas if we were charged with political offences we could face 10 to 20 years in prison,” Zaw Naing said.
“But we insisted that they charge us for our protest activities.”
Zaw Naing said the township police chief, judge, and township authorities had held a meeting and decided to let them go, but now they have been given real movement restrictions and have to sign in at the local police station every month.
They are also required to inform the authorities in advance if they plan to travel.
Both men said they had been beaten and mistreated by the township chairman, police chief and deputy police chief during their interrogation.
Zaw Naing said he was repeatedly beaten by the police chief at the township Peace and Development Council office and again when he had been transferred to the police station.
“I explained to them that we protested because we are hungry and have no food, but they were not pleased with that answer, and so they beat us until we gave them the answer they wanted,” Zaw Naing said.
“They beat me up so badly that my son could not even recognise me when he visited me in detention to bring me food.”
Than Htay said that he was also treated badly during interrogation.
“The township chairman kicked me when I was in the township PDC office and asked me how many dollars I had been given to stage the protest,” Than Htay said.
“I told him that I did it of my own free will because we have no food, and that I did not get any money from anyone,” he said.
“At the police station, about seven police officers, including deputy police chief Maung San, handcuffed me and beat me until I was nearly deaf.”
The two men said they would continue to protest in future if they thought it was necessary.
Feb 7, 2008 (DVB)–Two National League for Democracy members who were arrested for staging a small protest have been charged and released, and claim they were beaten while in detention.
NLD members Ko Than Htay and Ko Zaw Naing, from Taunggok township, Arakan state, were arrested on 22 January after they rode around the township on bicycles shouting out pro-democracy slogans.
They were charged with violating movement restrictions, despite not being subject to any such restrictions, and released by Taunggok township court on the afternoon of 5 February.
Zaw Naing said that the judge told them they were charged with movement restriction violation because it was a minor offence that would not incur a heavy penalty.
“The judge said we could be released without any harsh punishments for this offence, whereas if we were charged with political offences we could face 10 to 20 years in prison,” Zaw Naing said.
“But we insisted that they charge us for our protest activities.”
Zaw Naing said the township police chief, judge, and township authorities had held a meeting and decided to let them go, but now they have been given real movement restrictions and have to sign in at the local police station every month.
They are also required to inform the authorities in advance if they plan to travel.
Both men said they had been beaten and mistreated by the township chairman, police chief and deputy police chief during their interrogation.
Zaw Naing said he was repeatedly beaten by the police chief at the township Peace and Development Council office and again when he had been transferred to the police station.
“I explained to them that we protested because we are hungry and have no food, but they were not pleased with that answer, and so they beat us until we gave them the answer they wanted,” Zaw Naing said.
“They beat me up so badly that my son could not even recognise me when he visited me in detention to bring me food.”
Than Htay said that he was also treated badly during interrogation.
“The township chairman kicked me when I was in the township PDC office and asked me how many dollars I had been given to stage the protest,” Than Htay said.
“I told him that I did it of my own free will because we have no food, and that I did not get any money from anyone,” he said.
“At the police station, about seven police officers, including deputy police chief Maung San, handcuffed me and beat me until I was nearly deaf.”
The two men said they would continue to protest in future if they thought it was necessary.
Monastery warned not to accept visitors
Reporting by Aye Nai
Democratic Voice of Burma
Feb 7, 2008 (DVB)–A monastery in the border town of Kawthaung, Tenasserim division, that provides accommodation to poor travellers, has been told by local authorities not to accept visitors, monks at the monastery said.
Aung Dhamma Yeikthar monastery in Kawthaung's Padauk Shwe Wah ward has been providing accommodation to poor job seekers from across Burma who come to find better paid jobs in Ranong district across the border in Thailand.
A monk from the monastery said that a group of local officials called a representative monk from the monastery into a meeting and warned him to stop receiving visitors.
"The township's Sasana administration chief, the township head monk and the township Peace and Development Council chairman were in the meeting," the monk said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"They warned us that the monastery has been very crowded and told us not to accept visitors anymore. This will make it difficult for people to find a place to sleep."
Democratic Voice of Burma
Feb 7, 2008 (DVB)–A monastery in the border town of Kawthaung, Tenasserim division, that provides accommodation to poor travellers, has been told by local authorities not to accept visitors, monks at the monastery said.
Aung Dhamma Yeikthar monastery in Kawthaung's Padauk Shwe Wah ward has been providing accommodation to poor job seekers from across Burma who come to find better paid jobs in Ranong district across the border in Thailand.
A monk from the monastery said that a group of local officials called a representative monk from the monastery into a meeting and warned him to stop receiving visitors.
"The township's Sasana administration chief, the township head monk and the township Peace and Development Council chairman were in the meeting," the monk said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"They warned us that the monastery has been very crowded and told us not to accept visitors anymore. This will make it difficult for people to find a place to sleep."
Child recruits returned to families
Reporting by Aye Nai
Democratic Voice of Burma
Feb 7, 2008 (DVB)–Four children who were sold to an army recruiter in Kyi Myint Taing township on 23 January have been returned to their families, who were asked to pay for their transport, local market vendors said.
The children were detained by market security guards at the Central Model Fish Market and then sold to sergeant Soe Myint, who took them to Danyingon military recruitment centre.
According to a vendor at the market, the children were brought back from Danyingon in the early hours of 24 January, the day after the story was made public by several news agencies.
“Sergeant Soe Myint returned the children at around 2am in a military vehicle,” the vendor said.
“He asked for 30,000 kyat from the parents for transportation fees, and the children have been banned from entering the fish area of the market for six months.”
The parents were unable to afford the 30,000 kyat demanded by Soe Myint, so the vendors in the market came up with the money to free the children.
One market vendor said that Soe Myint was well known for buying children from the market in this way, and had made a lot of money from it.
The Burmese regime has claimed that there are very few cases of child military recruitment in the country, and says that those involved in the practice will face punishment.
However, the United Nations and international rights organisation Human Rights Watch have both recently drawn attention to the problem of child recruitment in Burma.
The government has taken no action against Soe Myint or the market security guards.
Democratic Voice of Burma
Feb 7, 2008 (DVB)–Four children who were sold to an army recruiter in Kyi Myint Taing township on 23 January have been returned to their families, who were asked to pay for their transport, local market vendors said.
The children were detained by market security guards at the Central Model Fish Market and then sold to sergeant Soe Myint, who took them to Danyingon military recruitment centre.
According to a vendor at the market, the children were brought back from Danyingon in the early hours of 24 January, the day after the story was made public by several news agencies.
“Sergeant Soe Myint returned the children at around 2am in a military vehicle,” the vendor said.
“He asked for 30,000 kyat from the parents for transportation fees, and the children have been banned from entering the fish area of the market for six months.”
The parents were unable to afford the 30,000 kyat demanded by Soe Myint, so the vendors in the market came up with the money to free the children.
One market vendor said that Soe Myint was well known for buying children from the market in this way, and had made a lot of money from it.
The Burmese regime has claimed that there are very few cases of child military recruitment in the country, and says that those involved in the practice will face punishment.
However, the United Nations and international rights organisation Human Rights Watch have both recently drawn attention to the problem of child recruitment in Burma.
The government has taken no action against Soe Myint or the market security guards.
Blogger charged with Emergency Provision Act
By Nem Davies
Mizzima News
www.mizzima.com
February 7, 2008 - Police in Rangoon have charged a Burmese blogger, Nay Phone Latt, who is believed to be in detention, under an emergency act, according to a close friend.
Nay Phone Latt, age 28, who went missing on January 29, has been charged with article 5 (J), Emergency Provision Act, at the Dagon Police station in Rangoon, said the close friend, who wished not to be named.
The Burmese military junta has widely used Article 5 (J), which could land an offender up to seven years of imprisonment, as a tool in suppressing dissidents and political activists.
"He was charged on February 3 at Dagon police station. We knew of the charges through police officer Soe Thein, who was among those that arrested him," the friend said.
Though Nay Phone Latt is reportedly charged and being detained at the Ministry of Home Affairs, so far there is no date for a trial. Family and friends told Mizzima they are preparing to confront the charges through legal avenues once the trial starts.
"We are still waiting and we will wait for about a month, and if necessary we will seek legal aid from lawyers," a family friend of Nay Phone Latt told Mizzima.
Meanwhile, a close friend of Nay Phone Latt's family said, the police have reportedly returned the Jeep, which Nay Phone Latt was reportedly driving when he was arrested, on Thursday afternoon.
Source: Mizzima News
Mizzima News
www.mizzima.com
February 7, 2008 - Police in Rangoon have charged a Burmese blogger, Nay Phone Latt, who is believed to be in detention, under an emergency act, according to a close friend.
Nay Phone Latt, age 28, who went missing on January 29, has been charged with article 5 (J), Emergency Provision Act, at the Dagon Police station in Rangoon, said the close friend, who wished not to be named.
The Burmese military junta has widely used Article 5 (J), which could land an offender up to seven years of imprisonment, as a tool in suppressing dissidents and political activists.
"He was charged on February 3 at Dagon police station. We knew of the charges through police officer Soe Thein, who was among those that arrested him," the friend said.
Though Nay Phone Latt is reportedly charged and being detained at the Ministry of Home Affairs, so far there is no date for a trial. Family and friends told Mizzima they are preparing to confront the charges through legal avenues once the trial starts.
"We are still waiting and we will wait for about a month, and if necessary we will seek legal aid from lawyers," a family friend of Nay Phone Latt told Mizzima.
Meanwhile, a close friend of Nay Phone Latt's family said, the police have reportedly returned the Jeep, which Nay Phone Latt was reportedly driving when he was arrested, on Thursday afternoon.
Source: Mizzima News
Blogging for Suu Kyi
By KAY LATT
The Irrawaddy
February 7, 2008 - “I’ve got a better idea,” the barber says. “Let’s create a blog for Daw Suu, so she can get the word out to the world!”
“I wish I were a blogger,” says Maung Kaung, sitting in the barber’s chair.
“Why?” asks the barber as he trims away at the back of his client’s head.
“A blogger can write anything he wants and everyone can read it,” states Maung Kaung assertively.
The barber pauses for a minute, looking in the mirror. “What is a blog anyway? I really don’t get it,” he whispers.
U Toke Kyee has been sitting on the barber’s bench reading a journal. Now he jumps into the conversation: “Oh barber, you are too out of date to understand! A blog is just a space in the Internet where you can create your own world.”
The barber looks up and nods happily. “I like the sound of that,” he says. “Maybe I’ll create a blog. How much does it cost to do it?”
“Perhaps as much as a long sentence in Insein Prison,” mutters Maung Kaung under his breath.
But the barber’s eyes are still sparkling as he looks up at the ceiling: “No, no. I just want to share all my experiences with people around the world,” he says. “Friends I have never even met.”
Maung Kaung and U Toke Kyee fall silent, lost in thought.
The barber muses happily and starts shaving Maung Kaung’s neck. He looks happy again.
“I’ve got a better idea,” he says finally. “Let’s create a blog for Daw Suu, so she can get the word out to the world!”
U Toke Kyee puts down his newspaper. “That’s not a bad idea, barber,” he replies. “Then they could stop taking her back and forth to that government guest house; and she wouldn’t have to slip messages to that great oaf Gambari in order to get a speech out.”
“But who’s going to volunteer to be Suu Kyi’s secret blogger?” asks Maung Kaung.
The barber responds quickly: “Why not you? You said you wanted to be a blogger. You could find a job inside Suu Kyi’s compound and start getting her messages out to the world!”
Maung Kaung shifts uncomfortably in the seat: “But there’s no Internet access in Daw Suu’s house; and there’s no telephone line either.”
U Toke Kyee raises a finger and exclaims: “Ah! But you could use the wireless network from the new US embassy—it’s on the same street.”
Maung Kaung shakes his head: “No. It would never be permitted. And another problem is electricity. It’s only on for six hours a day.”
The barber ponders a minute while he snips the hair from his customer’s nostrils.
“No problem, old boy,” he states. “We’ll send in some batteries every day.”
Maung Kaung checks his shaved face in the mirror and rubs his chin, admiring how smooth it feels. He thinks for a minute and responds: “The best solution is to get Daw Suu to move to Naypyidaw. Then she will have access to telephone lines and wireless and everything.”
“Yeah,” mutters the barber. “And also, the generals could get her to live next door and stop worrying about US missiles raining down on them!”
Source: The Irrawaddy News - (www.irrawaddy.org)
The Irrawaddy
February 7, 2008 - “I’ve got a better idea,” the barber says. “Let’s create a blog for Daw Suu, so she can get the word out to the world!”
“I wish I were a blogger,” says Maung Kaung, sitting in the barber’s chair.
“Why?” asks the barber as he trims away at the back of his client’s head.
“A blogger can write anything he wants and everyone can read it,” states Maung Kaung assertively.
The barber pauses for a minute, looking in the mirror. “What is a blog anyway? I really don’t get it,” he whispers.
U Toke Kyee has been sitting on the barber’s bench reading a journal. Now he jumps into the conversation: “Oh barber, you are too out of date to understand! A blog is just a space in the Internet where you can create your own world.”
The barber looks up and nods happily. “I like the sound of that,” he says. “Maybe I’ll create a blog. How much does it cost to do it?”
“Perhaps as much as a long sentence in Insein Prison,” mutters Maung Kaung under his breath.
But the barber’s eyes are still sparkling as he looks up at the ceiling: “No, no. I just want to share all my experiences with people around the world,” he says. “Friends I have never even met.”
Maung Kaung and U Toke Kyee fall silent, lost in thought.
The barber muses happily and starts shaving Maung Kaung’s neck. He looks happy again.
“I’ve got a better idea,” he says finally. “Let’s create a blog for Daw Suu, so she can get the word out to the world!”
U Toke Kyee puts down his newspaper. “That’s not a bad idea, barber,” he replies. “Then they could stop taking her back and forth to that government guest house; and she wouldn’t have to slip messages to that great oaf Gambari in order to get a speech out.”
“But who’s going to volunteer to be Suu Kyi’s secret blogger?” asks Maung Kaung.
The barber responds quickly: “Why not you? You said you wanted to be a blogger. You could find a job inside Suu Kyi’s compound and start getting her messages out to the world!”
Maung Kaung shifts uncomfortably in the seat: “But there’s no Internet access in Daw Suu’s house; and there’s no telephone line either.”
U Toke Kyee raises a finger and exclaims: “Ah! But you could use the wireless network from the new US embassy—it’s on the same street.”
Maung Kaung shakes his head: “No. It would never be permitted. And another problem is electricity. It’s only on for six hours a day.”
The barber ponders a minute while he snips the hair from his customer’s nostrils.
“No problem, old boy,” he states. “We’ll send in some batteries every day.”
Maung Kaung checks his shaved face in the mirror and rubs his chin, admiring how smooth it feels. He thinks for a minute and responds: “The best solution is to get Daw Suu to move to Naypyidaw. Then she will have access to telephone lines and wireless and everything.”
“Yeah,” mutters the barber. “And also, the generals could get her to live next door and stop worrying about US missiles raining down on them!”
Source: The Irrawaddy News - (www.irrawaddy.org)
UNICEF Chief Says Burmese Newspapers Misstated Facts
By THE IRRAWADDY
www.irrawaddy.org
February 7, 2008 - The Burmese Minister of Health, Dr Kyaw Myint, said UNICEF’s chief health officer in Burma has explained in a letter that international newspapers misstated facts about the child morality rate in Burma, according to a report in The New Light of Myanmar.
Dr Osamu Kunii, the chief of UNICEF’s heath and nutrition section in Burma, sent a letter to Dr Kyaw Myint on Wednesday saying that some newspapers had misstated facts in the annual report and misquoted him.
“He [Osamu Kunii] said he was sorry for the misunderstanding if had adverse effects on the hard work of the ministry of health and government,” The New Light of Myanmar reported.
The UNICEF annual report stated that there was a child death rate of 104 deaths for each 1,000 children in Burma. The World Health Organization has said the Burmese child mortality rate was 66 deaths for every 1,000, according to the state-run newspaper.
A spokesperson in the UNICEF office in Rangoon was not available when The Irrawaddy contacted it for comment.
Osamu Knnii, quoted in a The Associated Press story in late January, said that between 100,000 to 150,000 children under five years of age die every year in Burma, many from preventable diseases.
The UNICEF annual report, "The State of the World's Children," rated Burma as having the 4th highest child mortality rate in the world, surpassed in Asia only by Afghanistan which has the third-worst record after Sierra Leone and Angola.
Most of Burma's health care is funded through international groups.
The military government spends about 3 percent of its annual budget on health care annually, compared with 40 percent on the military, according to a report published this year by researchers from the University of California (Berkeley) and Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
Source: The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
February 7, 2008 - The Burmese Minister of Health, Dr Kyaw Myint, said UNICEF’s chief health officer in Burma has explained in a letter that international newspapers misstated facts about the child morality rate in Burma, according to a report in The New Light of Myanmar.
Dr Osamu Kunii, the chief of UNICEF’s heath and nutrition section in Burma, sent a letter to Dr Kyaw Myint on Wednesday saying that some newspapers had misstated facts in the annual report and misquoted him.
“He [Osamu Kunii] said he was sorry for the misunderstanding if had adverse effects on the hard work of the ministry of health and government,” The New Light of Myanmar reported.
The UNICEF annual report stated that there was a child death rate of 104 deaths for each 1,000 children in Burma. The World Health Organization has said the Burmese child mortality rate was 66 deaths for every 1,000, according to the state-run newspaper.
A spokesperson in the UNICEF office in Rangoon was not available when The Irrawaddy contacted it for comment.
Osamu Knnii, quoted in a The Associated Press story in late January, said that between 100,000 to 150,000 children under five years of age die every year in Burma, many from preventable diseases.
The UNICEF annual report, "The State of the World's Children," rated Burma as having the 4th highest child mortality rate in the world, surpassed in Asia only by Afghanistan which has the third-worst record after Sierra Leone and Angola.
Most of Burma's health care is funded through international groups.
The military government spends about 3 percent of its annual budget on health care annually, compared with 40 percent on the military, according to a report published this year by researchers from the University of California (Berkeley) and Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
Source: The Irrawaddy News
Shan are Silenced, as Burma’s Chinese Celebrate
By SAW YAN NAING
Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
February 7, 2008 - The Shan National Day and Chinese New Year fall on the same day in Burma this year. But while the country’s Chinese residents are celebrating on Thursday, the native Shan are officially barred from publicly marking the occasion.
The regime banned the Shan festival, also known as Shan State Day, in 2001, apparently because it was worried about growing political awareness among the Shan.
The festival commemorates the day when the Shan nation adopted its own flag and national anthem on February 7, 1947.
A resident of the Shan capital, Taunggyi, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that no celebration of the Shan festival was being held there. Many Chinese residents were gathering to celebrate Chinese New Year, she said.
The woman, a member of the opposition National League for Democracy, said the official ban on the Shan celebration was a further indication of how the regime was suppressing the Shan people.
Low-key ceremonies were being held in some locations, however.
In Rangoon, alms were offered to monks at a Shan monastery in the city’s Mayangone Township. The organizer of the ceremony, Nang Boe Seng, said: “We are celebrating so that our [Shan] people do not forget our culture, tradition and religious customs. We also want the young generation to love and uphold our culture.”
The day’s program included dance and music on Thursday evening by Shan performers, including the famous Shan singers Sai Htee Saing and Sai Khan Lait and Burmese singer Zaw Paing.
The Shan National Day was also being observed on Thursday in celebrations in Loi Taileng, headquarters of Shan State Army—(South).
Outside Burma, Shan migrants working and living in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, also celebrated the festival.
Despite the ban on Shan National Day observances in Burma, the regime permitted celebrations of the Shan New Year festival in Taunggyi in December.
Source: The Irrawaddy News
Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
February 7, 2008 - The Shan National Day and Chinese New Year fall on the same day in Burma this year. But while the country’s Chinese residents are celebrating on Thursday, the native Shan are officially barred from publicly marking the occasion.
The regime banned the Shan festival, also known as Shan State Day, in 2001, apparently because it was worried about growing political awareness among the Shan.
The festival commemorates the day when the Shan nation adopted its own flag and national anthem on February 7, 1947.
A resident of the Shan capital, Taunggyi, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that no celebration of the Shan festival was being held there. Many Chinese residents were gathering to celebrate Chinese New Year, she said.
The woman, a member of the opposition National League for Democracy, said the official ban on the Shan celebration was a further indication of how the regime was suppressing the Shan people.
Low-key ceremonies were being held in some locations, however.
In Rangoon, alms were offered to monks at a Shan monastery in the city’s Mayangone Township. The organizer of the ceremony, Nang Boe Seng, said: “We are celebrating so that our [Shan] people do not forget our culture, tradition and religious customs. We also want the young generation to love and uphold our culture.”
The day’s program included dance and music on Thursday evening by Shan performers, including the famous Shan singers Sai Htee Saing and Sai Khan Lait and Burmese singer Zaw Paing.
The Shan National Day was also being observed on Thursday in celebrations in Loi Taileng, headquarters of Shan State Army—(South).
Outside Burma, Shan migrants working and living in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, also celebrated the festival.
Despite the ban on Shan National Day observances in Burma, the regime permitted celebrations of the Shan New Year festival in Taunggyi in December.
Source: The Irrawaddy News
Thursday, 7 February 2008
Offshore gas exploration
The Nation
February 7, 2008
GAS has been the prime source of energy in Bangladesh. It is used for power generation, as an alternative to petroleum in the transportation sector, in industries such as brickfields and many others including fertiliser industries as basic raw material and in households for cooking and heating. But the recoverable reserves of gas are dwindling down.
This is the outcome of lack of farsightedness on the part of previous governments in giving high priority to exploration to find and develop new gas fields. BAPEX, the lone publicly owned organisation for exploration of oil and gas, was sidelined for long and new reserves could not be located by it through systematic exploration activities. International oil companies (IOCs) operating in Bangladesh also did not do their work with zest for various reasons that meant further slowdown in finding new gas deposits and exploitation of the same.
The cumulative effect of all these is that a crisis like situation now exists in the supply of gas in relation to its fast growing demand. Thus, in this backdrop of fast depleting gas resources, it has become imperative to quickly find out new reserves of gas and produce and supply the same to the national gas grid.
It was learnt recently that government was about to embark on a bidding process to award blocks in its offshore areas to foreign companies for the exploration of gas and oil. The bid documents and all other formalities were reportedly completed and the bidding was expected to start this month. Fast completion of the bidding for offshore blocks and start of operation in them by the foreign companies may lead to substantial production of gas sooner rather than later and ease the conditions which have been created from gas shortages.
The government has reportedly finalised the model of production sharing contracts (PSCs) to ensure that Bangladesh gets better benefits from them compared to the one that was signed for other fields in the past. New difficulties that are reportedly arising in going through the bidding process for the offshore areas like - India and Myanmar laying claims on parts of the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal - should be sorted out at the earliest.
However, there is no reason to withhold the bidding process for these dubious claims from India and Myanmar. A large area in the Bangladesh EEG falls outside the disputed zones and this can be immediately awarded to IOCs on a block basis for start of exploration activities. Simultaneously, the issue should be taken up bilaterally with Myanmar and India for the fastest resolution.
February 7, 2008
GAS has been the prime source of energy in Bangladesh. It is used for power generation, as an alternative to petroleum in the transportation sector, in industries such as brickfields and many others including fertiliser industries as basic raw material and in households for cooking and heating. But the recoverable reserves of gas are dwindling down.
This is the outcome of lack of farsightedness on the part of previous governments in giving high priority to exploration to find and develop new gas fields. BAPEX, the lone publicly owned organisation for exploration of oil and gas, was sidelined for long and new reserves could not be located by it through systematic exploration activities. International oil companies (IOCs) operating in Bangladesh also did not do their work with zest for various reasons that meant further slowdown in finding new gas deposits and exploitation of the same.
The cumulative effect of all these is that a crisis like situation now exists in the supply of gas in relation to its fast growing demand. Thus, in this backdrop of fast depleting gas resources, it has become imperative to quickly find out new reserves of gas and produce and supply the same to the national gas grid.
It was learnt recently that government was about to embark on a bidding process to award blocks in its offshore areas to foreign companies for the exploration of gas and oil. The bid documents and all other formalities were reportedly completed and the bidding was expected to start this month. Fast completion of the bidding for offshore blocks and start of operation in them by the foreign companies may lead to substantial production of gas sooner rather than later and ease the conditions which have been created from gas shortages.
The government has reportedly finalised the model of production sharing contracts (PSCs) to ensure that Bangladesh gets better benefits from them compared to the one that was signed for other fields in the past. New difficulties that are reportedly arising in going through the bidding process for the offshore areas like - India and Myanmar laying claims on parts of the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal - should be sorted out at the earliest.
However, there is no reason to withhold the bidding process for these dubious claims from India and Myanmar. A large area in the Bangladesh EEG falls outside the disputed zones and this can be immediately awarded to IOCs on a block basis for start of exploration activities. Simultaneously, the issue should be taken up bilaterally with Myanmar and India for the fastest resolution.
Ethnic groups welcome NLD's invitation for talks
Than Htike Oo and Phanidar
Mizzima News
www.mizzima.com
February 7, 2008 - Chiang Mai– Several ethnic organizations at home and abroad welcomed the invitation of the National League for Democracy (NLD) to all ethnic organizations in Burma, including ceasefire groups, to come and discuss differences in policy matters.
The main opposition for the first time, opened up discussions with ethnic organizations on February 5. The meetings are to focus on any differences between the NLD and ethnic communities regarding a statement issued on November 8, 2007, by NLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Previously, the Pa-O National Organization, Union Pa-O National League, United Wa State Army, Shan State Special Region (4) Mongla, Kokang, Kachin Defence Army and Shan State Army (North), all ceasefire groups, issued statements saying they did not support Suu Kyi's earlier statement.
"Some ethnic organizations issued statements in state-run newspapers saying they disagreed with this statement. We agree with their statements as they are issued under democratic principles. Similarly, face to face dialogue is also a democratic practice. So we have invited these ethnic organizations, which have different viewpoints on policy from those of the NLD, to come for talks", spokesman Nyan Win said.
But as of yet, no organizations have accepted the invitation, he said.
Some ceasefire groups reportedly said that their statements were issued under pressure and at the behest of the junta. They reportedly were instructed to simply sign pre-prepared statements.
United Nationalities Alliance (UNA) spokesman Pu Sian Tshing Thang said, referring to those organizations that submitted statements opposed to that of Suu Kyi, "I wonder why they protested against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's statement? Maybe it was not clear what Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said or maybe they acted under pressure of the regime? I think the NLD wants them to clarify their positions. If they have actual differences with the NLD, the NLD would like them to come and discuss those differences with them. This is how I see their statement."
"National reconciliation through dialogue is the best way. Otherwise any resolution through other means will give our country bad results rather than good results. This is my view", Nai Ngwe Thein, Vice-Chairman of the New Mon State Party (NMSP) said. The NMSP has issued public support for Suu Kyi's position.
Meanwhile other groups have yet to respond to Suu Kyi's November statement.
"We haven't yet discussed it, as we were preoccupied with the KIO Revolution Day celebration," said a spokesperson for the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), referring to Suu Kyi's original statement. "We haven't discussed anything yet on the matter and as of yet have no official position. We'll discuss it later when we have a meeting." The KIO is another of the ceasefire groups. Revolution Day is honored on February 5.
Dr. Salai Lianmong Zarkaung, General Secretary of the Ethnic Nationality Council (Burma), which supported Suu Kyi's earlier statement, welcomed the most recent NLD statement and urged ethnic organizations inside Burma to accept the invitation and discuss any differences they have with the NLD.
In all, twelve ethnic organizations, including the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), Zomi National Congress (ZNC) and Mon National Democracy, previously announced their support for Suu Kyi's statement.
Mizzima News
www.mizzima.com
February 7, 2008 - Chiang Mai– Several ethnic organizations at home and abroad welcomed the invitation of the National League for Democracy (NLD) to all ethnic organizations in Burma, including ceasefire groups, to come and discuss differences in policy matters.
The main opposition for the first time, opened up discussions with ethnic organizations on February 5. The meetings are to focus on any differences between the NLD and ethnic communities regarding a statement issued on November 8, 2007, by NLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Previously, the Pa-O National Organization, Union Pa-O National League, United Wa State Army, Shan State Special Region (4) Mongla, Kokang, Kachin Defence Army and Shan State Army (North), all ceasefire groups, issued statements saying they did not support Suu Kyi's earlier statement.
"Some ethnic organizations issued statements in state-run newspapers saying they disagreed with this statement. We agree with their statements as they are issued under democratic principles. Similarly, face to face dialogue is also a democratic practice. So we have invited these ethnic organizations, which have different viewpoints on policy from those of the NLD, to come for talks", spokesman Nyan Win said.
But as of yet, no organizations have accepted the invitation, he said.
Some ceasefire groups reportedly said that their statements were issued under pressure and at the behest of the junta. They reportedly were instructed to simply sign pre-prepared statements.
United Nationalities Alliance (UNA) spokesman Pu Sian Tshing Thang said, referring to those organizations that submitted statements opposed to that of Suu Kyi, "I wonder why they protested against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's statement? Maybe it was not clear what Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said or maybe they acted under pressure of the regime? I think the NLD wants them to clarify their positions. If they have actual differences with the NLD, the NLD would like them to come and discuss those differences with them. This is how I see their statement."
"National reconciliation through dialogue is the best way. Otherwise any resolution through other means will give our country bad results rather than good results. This is my view", Nai Ngwe Thein, Vice-Chairman of the New Mon State Party (NMSP) said. The NMSP has issued public support for Suu Kyi's position.
Meanwhile other groups have yet to respond to Suu Kyi's November statement.
"We haven't yet discussed it, as we were preoccupied with the KIO Revolution Day celebration," said a spokesperson for the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), referring to Suu Kyi's original statement. "We haven't discussed anything yet on the matter and as of yet have no official position. We'll discuss it later when we have a meeting." The KIO is another of the ceasefire groups. Revolution Day is honored on February 5.
Dr. Salai Lianmong Zarkaung, General Secretary of the Ethnic Nationality Council (Burma), which supported Suu Kyi's earlier statement, welcomed the most recent NLD statement and urged ethnic organizations inside Burma to accept the invitation and discuss any differences they have with the NLD.
In all, twelve ethnic organizations, including the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), Zomi National Congress (ZNC) and Mon National Democracy, previously announced their support for Suu Kyi's statement.
Singapore Resident Targeted In US Myanmar Sanctions -AFP
AFP - Nasdaq
February 7, 2008 SINGAPORE (AFP)--A Singapore resident is among those targeted under new U.S. sanctions aimed at an alleged "henchman" and arms dealer for the Myanmar junta.
U Kyaw Thein, 60, was named Tuesday as the U.S. imposed sanctions against individuals and businesses linked to Tay Za, citing continuing human rights violations and political repression by the Myanmar regime.
A Singaporean company, Pavo Aircraft Leasing Pte Ltd., was also named.
"We are tightening financial sanctions against Tay Za, an arms dealer and financial henchman of Burma's repressive junta," said Adam Szubin, director of the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
An OFAC notice identifies U Kyaw Thein as a citizen of Burma who is a permanent resident of Singapore, with an identity card issued in 2005.
A resident of U Kyaw Thein's Singapore apartment told AFP by phone Thursday that he had gone overseas and could not be reached.
"He's gone for some trip," said the man, who would not give his name.
Pavo Aircraft Leasing is the latest Singapore firm to be hit by the U.S. sanctions.
After Myanmar's deadly suppression of Buddhist-led protests in September, President George W. Bush named three firms with offices in Singapore as among those targeted. They were Pavo Trading Pte Ltd, Air Bagan Holdings Pte Ltd. and Htoo Wood Products Pte Ltd., which is also listed as being from Myanmar's main city, Yangon.
Pavo Aircraft Leasing is listed at the same office where the other three blacklisted firms were based.
The U.S. action freezes any assets they may have under U.S. jurisdiction and bars Americans from conducting business with them at the risk of heavy fines and prison sentences.
Singapore led regional criticism of the junta's September crackdown, but rights activists have accused the city-state of not taking economic action against the regime.
Singapore strongly denies allegations that it allows banks based here to keep illicit funds on behalf of Myanmar's secretive generals.
February 7, 2008 SINGAPORE (AFP)--A Singapore resident is among those targeted under new U.S. sanctions aimed at an alleged "henchman" and arms dealer for the Myanmar junta.
U Kyaw Thein, 60, was named Tuesday as the U.S. imposed sanctions against individuals and businesses linked to Tay Za, citing continuing human rights violations and political repression by the Myanmar regime.
A Singaporean company, Pavo Aircraft Leasing Pte Ltd., was also named.
"We are tightening financial sanctions against Tay Za, an arms dealer and financial henchman of Burma's repressive junta," said Adam Szubin, director of the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
An OFAC notice identifies U Kyaw Thein as a citizen of Burma who is a permanent resident of Singapore, with an identity card issued in 2005.
A resident of U Kyaw Thein's Singapore apartment told AFP by phone Thursday that he had gone overseas and could not be reached.
"He's gone for some trip," said the man, who would not give his name.
Pavo Aircraft Leasing is the latest Singapore firm to be hit by the U.S. sanctions.
After Myanmar's deadly suppression of Buddhist-led protests in September, President George W. Bush named three firms with offices in Singapore as among those targeted. They were Pavo Trading Pte Ltd, Air Bagan Holdings Pte Ltd. and Htoo Wood Products Pte Ltd., which is also listed as being from Myanmar's main city, Yangon.
Pavo Aircraft Leasing is listed at the same office where the other three blacklisted firms were based.
The U.S. action freezes any assets they may have under U.S. jurisdiction and bars Americans from conducting business with them at the risk of heavy fines and prison sentences.
Singapore led regional criticism of the junta's September crackdown, but rights activists have accused the city-state of not taking economic action against the regime.
Singapore strongly denies allegations that it allows banks based here to keep illicit funds on behalf of Myanmar's secretive generals.
Burmese Junta needed for transition
By Gamanii
The killing of the highest spiritual leaders of the society is the expression of most severe form of lawlessness.
Burma: The Golden Alternative, Not Abrupt Regime Change but Negotiated Settlement
February 7, 2008 - As Burma gets into world spotlight with the Saffron Revolution, lots of arguments against democratization are surprisingly heard from many quarter-¬politicians, statesmen, scholars, so-called Burma experts and even some Burmese in exile who have never set foot on the native soil or who have been out of touch with reality for decades¬ absurdly claiming that the substitute for the military junta will be, out of all things, the devil's alternative. One argument is the likelihood of lawlessness, chaos and 'Balkanization' if the junta is gone. So what's the situation now? Isn't there lawlessness already in Burma? There has to be a negotiated settlement and no quick fixes.
The killing of the highest spiritual leaders of the society is the expression of most severe form of lawlessness. On the other hand, the leaders of the Saffron Revolution, the monks, have shown the highest and unrivalled form of discipline and order in the world. Buddhism is renowned for its peace-loving and love-radiating attributes and Burmese monks and the demonstrating people led by them have again proved it. Drug cartels and crime syndicates flourish most under egomaniac despotism. There is no rule of law in Burma; only the words of selfish generals. This is the best culture for crime and chaos.
The self-seeking military junta is the sole cause of chaos and civil war. Incompetent junta's militarization of the country has brought it to 'Least Developed Country' Status in 1987 and, twenty years later, unprecedented chaos, mismanagement and social conflict matched only by few failed states on earth. Now it is trying to implement a so-called Road Map which will without doubt further the degeneration and polarization, producing a military dynasty like Duvalier's Haiti, Kim Il-Sung's North Korea or Assad's Syria after Than Shwe's demise or when the present generation of generals have gone.
On the opposition side, all the main groups have more or less the same major demands or visions. Democratic forces led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and ethnic forces led by the Union Nationalities League for Democracy (UNLD) or United Nationalities Alliance (UNA) are united in the Committee Representing People's Parliament (CRPP) formed in 1998 by major parties elected in 1990. The bond was first brought about through Bo Aung Kyaw Street Declaration in 1990 August. The ceasefire groups are also linked to the UNA and through it to the CRPP which was openly supported by four armed ceasefire groups in 1998. One of the reasons behind the detentions of Khun Tun Oo, leader of the strongest legal Shan political party, and Gen. Hso Ten, leader of the strongest armed Shan (ceasefire) force, in 2005 is that they are the principal influential links between the ethnic ceasefire groups and the CRPP.
In 1990 elections the NLD and the UNLD won 95% of parliamentary seats. The NLD also won in many ethnic areas. During Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's tours in 2003 the largest turnout of support occurred in ethnic states. This is one reason behind the junta's infamous Depayin attack on her. The NLD had also won in military cantonment areas in 1990. The president and vice-president of the NLD are former military generals in addition to many 'enlightened' ex-commanders and soldiers who are now serving in the country's biggest opposition party. So it is evident that democratization will unify rather than balkanize the country.
Underground opposition groups have also achieved important accords in 1992 July through Manerplaw Agreement and in 1997 January through Maethrawhta Agreement which was hailed by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as a right step towards peace and harmony in future Burma. These pacts are also significant for their agreement to solve any differences among democratic or armed ethnic groups by means of peaceful negotiations and concept of equality.
Almost all the underground ethnic and democratic forces are united inside the National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB) which comprises of 10 armed ethnic groups, 5 unarmed ethnic or minority groups and 13 democratic or civil society groups (including the exiled-NLD and Students' Army) as well as 34 exiled parliamentarians from the NLD, the pro-military National Unity Party (NUP) and seven ethnic parties elected in 1990. Ethnic groups and democratic or civil society groups outside the NCUB are linked to or interrelated with the latter through exiled-UNLD, Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC), Five-Party Military Alliance and Forum for Democracy in Burma (FDB).
To bring order during the transitional period the National League for Democracy has a provisional Constitution based to some extent on 1947 Constitution in addition to plans for a second Panglong Conference of all ethnic groups including the Burman majority. The first Panglong Agreement of 1947 had brought understanding among ethnic nationalities of Burma and founded the present Union though not much in essence. The opposition forces in exile are also working on future constitutions through a highly inclusive and broad-based Federal Constitution Drafting and Co-ordination Committee (FCDCC) and various State Constitutions Drafting Committees (SCDCs), extensively smoothing out potential divergences and conflicts.
Unlike Yugoslavia or African countries, more than 2000-year old civilized Burma's history bore no precedence of Balkanization. Bloody religious or racial conflicts common to Yugoslavia or African countries were unheard of. Past wars were caused mainly by feudal monarchs annexing adjacent territories just like feudal rulers of any country in ancient times. Pre- and Post-Independence communal riots were the hangover of colonialist era 'divide and rule' policy. The junta's disinformation on the meaning of federalism has failed among the Burmese people. Burmans who usually turned out victors through military might have now realized the futility of denying other ethnic peoples their rights in accordance with universal norms; the only remaining obstacle being the military junta.
The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted in September 2007 will give a great boost to democratic and ethnic issue in Burma. Another thing to take note is that there are no 135 races in Burma as the junta claims; the true figure is around sixty with most of them less than 50,000 each.
Of course, as in Quebec, Scotland or Flanders, there is and will always be a few who desire secession but majority of each ethnic population only cares for equal rights. Besides, there are no practical means or situation to carry out secession by those who desire it. Even under Prime Minister U Nu in 1958, when ethnics could utilize the Article 140 of the 1947 Constitution to secede legally, no attempt was made but only demands for more rights within the Union framework were presented peacefully and democratically that were but turned down by Ne Win's military junta using brute force.
Armed ethnic groups, particularly ceasefire armies and the people in their territories are basically war-weary. That's why the SPDC is able to coerce and manipulate them. In 1998 September, when some ceasefire groups backed the CRPP in defiance of the junta, local civilian pressure and senior ethnic officers' war-fatigue prompted the groups to back down from war. The concept of non-violence and effects of media which have dominated the world since the end of Cold War have been influencing the armed ethnic groups more than its worth. In Burma, (tripartite) dialogue and non-violence rather than warring are the buzz words.
Balkanization is not the only option in the world; Czechoslovakia had experienced a peaceful 'velvet separation'. Balkanization and anarchy can only be brought about by a freely failing junta which could break apart into multiple rivaling fiefdoms controlled separately by warlord-turned junta generals or Burma army's regional commanders as in post-Siad Barre Somalia, post-Najibullah Afghanistan or post-Mobutu Congo. Unlike them, Burma fortunately has a legitimate and popular democratic leadership well-prepared and highly competent to take over.
Burma's opposition leaders ¬both democratic and ethnic ¬are undoubtedly more competent, qualified and broad-minded than the junta chiefs. Unlike Iraq or Afghanistan, all the atrocities and terror in Burma are work of the SPDC. Tthere are no extremists or terrorists among the opposition. Hence merely checking and removing the SPDC will prevent any further bloodshed.
Presently, junta's senseless or paranoid economic policies are making everyone broke except the generals. Even Singapore's senior statesman Mr. Lee Kuan-yew has dubbed them 'dumb' with regard to economics. No globalization beneficial to the country's people, local businessmen or foreign investors could take hold in Burma. In contrast, the National League for Democracy has been upgrading its leaders and rank-and-file with world level capacity in all issues, anticipating to ride the globalization surf like China and Vietnam. Exiled democratic and ethnic forces are also versed in international efficiencies of peaceful nature after years of training and studying abroad.
The important thing is that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD are not calling for abrupt 'regime change' but rather a negotiated settlement taking into account the Burmese military's role, and finally replacing it definitely in not too distant future. In 2006 February, the NLD offered a transition plan which would recognize the military junta as a de jure government for a transition period that would be legitimized by the parliament elected in 1990. Also in August, 2007, ninety-two elected members of parliament proposed an alternative Road Map offering the SPDC a considerable role in Constitution-drafting and transition processes along with elected NLD and ethnic members of parliament. "Everything is negotiable," Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has said.
The army is to be retained but the military dictatorship must go, this is the opposition's consensus. The pigheaded generals simply turned down all the proposals. These meaningful proposals are far from those clamors for pointless 'gradual change' advocated by unwitting apologists of the obstinate military junta who has been claiming they are executing gradual change for nineteen years which has only resulted in the massacre of Buddhist monks. The junta's gradual change is in fact no change at all but more bloodshed only.
Engagement with the junta has also been called or initiated by many countries including ASEAN, China and Japan who only got its reporter Mr. Nagai killed from close range gunshot during the Saffron Revolution. There has been the Chilston Park seminar in the UK favoring engagement as well. All these has resulted in more deadly militarization with more refugees and more migrants to neighboring countries not to say of diseases, forced labor, rape and more IDPs in the country.
So what can you expect from shoring up a junta that is prepared to kill the most revered section of the nation at the country's holiest shrine on a full-moon day which is regarded as a holy day in Buddhism? Will it be moral or feasible to maintain the status quo or engage with this kind of junta to prevent an imaginary and improbable Balkanization and chaos? To prevent such a scenario there is no other way rather than to replace the regime with the opposition who has people's mandate, through the road map initiated by the latter.
Gamanii is a former student activist and political prisoner of 1974-1975 and then joined ethnic armed groups and spent twenty years in the jungle fighting the military regime. Now, he is working for Burma's exiled government (NCGUB). He has written many articles on Burma. He is an Inthar, an ethnic minority group in Shan State of Burma.
Source: Asian Tribune
The killing of the highest spiritual leaders of the society is the expression of most severe form of lawlessness.
Burma: The Golden Alternative, Not Abrupt Regime Change but Negotiated Settlement
February 7, 2008 - As Burma gets into world spotlight with the Saffron Revolution, lots of arguments against democratization are surprisingly heard from many quarter-¬politicians, statesmen, scholars, so-called Burma experts and even some Burmese in exile who have never set foot on the native soil or who have been out of touch with reality for decades¬ absurdly claiming that the substitute for the military junta will be, out of all things, the devil's alternative. One argument is the likelihood of lawlessness, chaos and 'Balkanization' if the junta is gone. So what's the situation now? Isn't there lawlessness already in Burma? There has to be a negotiated settlement and no quick fixes.
The killing of the highest spiritual leaders of the society is the expression of most severe form of lawlessness. On the other hand, the leaders of the Saffron Revolution, the monks, have shown the highest and unrivalled form of discipline and order in the world. Buddhism is renowned for its peace-loving and love-radiating attributes and Burmese monks and the demonstrating people led by them have again proved it. Drug cartels and crime syndicates flourish most under egomaniac despotism. There is no rule of law in Burma; only the words of selfish generals. This is the best culture for crime and chaos.
The self-seeking military junta is the sole cause of chaos and civil war. Incompetent junta's militarization of the country has brought it to 'Least Developed Country' Status in 1987 and, twenty years later, unprecedented chaos, mismanagement and social conflict matched only by few failed states on earth. Now it is trying to implement a so-called Road Map which will without doubt further the degeneration and polarization, producing a military dynasty like Duvalier's Haiti, Kim Il-Sung's North Korea or Assad's Syria after Than Shwe's demise or when the present generation of generals have gone.
On the opposition side, all the main groups have more or less the same major demands or visions. Democratic forces led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and ethnic forces led by the Union Nationalities League for Democracy (UNLD) or United Nationalities Alliance (UNA) are united in the Committee Representing People's Parliament (CRPP) formed in 1998 by major parties elected in 1990. The bond was first brought about through Bo Aung Kyaw Street Declaration in 1990 August. The ceasefire groups are also linked to the UNA and through it to the CRPP which was openly supported by four armed ceasefire groups in 1998. One of the reasons behind the detentions of Khun Tun Oo, leader of the strongest legal Shan political party, and Gen. Hso Ten, leader of the strongest armed Shan (ceasefire) force, in 2005 is that they are the principal influential links between the ethnic ceasefire groups and the CRPP.
In 1990 elections the NLD and the UNLD won 95% of parliamentary seats. The NLD also won in many ethnic areas. During Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's tours in 2003 the largest turnout of support occurred in ethnic states. This is one reason behind the junta's infamous Depayin attack on her. The NLD had also won in military cantonment areas in 1990. The president and vice-president of the NLD are former military generals in addition to many 'enlightened' ex-commanders and soldiers who are now serving in the country's biggest opposition party. So it is evident that democratization will unify rather than balkanize the country.
Underground opposition groups have also achieved important accords in 1992 July through Manerplaw Agreement and in 1997 January through Maethrawhta Agreement which was hailed by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as a right step towards peace and harmony in future Burma. These pacts are also significant for their agreement to solve any differences among democratic or armed ethnic groups by means of peaceful negotiations and concept of equality.
Almost all the underground ethnic and democratic forces are united inside the National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB) which comprises of 10 armed ethnic groups, 5 unarmed ethnic or minority groups and 13 democratic or civil society groups (including the exiled-NLD and Students' Army) as well as 34 exiled parliamentarians from the NLD, the pro-military National Unity Party (NUP) and seven ethnic parties elected in 1990. Ethnic groups and democratic or civil society groups outside the NCUB are linked to or interrelated with the latter through exiled-UNLD, Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC), Five-Party Military Alliance and Forum for Democracy in Burma (FDB).
To bring order during the transitional period the National League for Democracy has a provisional Constitution based to some extent on 1947 Constitution in addition to plans for a second Panglong Conference of all ethnic groups including the Burman majority. The first Panglong Agreement of 1947 had brought understanding among ethnic nationalities of Burma and founded the present Union though not much in essence. The opposition forces in exile are also working on future constitutions through a highly inclusive and broad-based Federal Constitution Drafting and Co-ordination Committee (FCDCC) and various State Constitutions Drafting Committees (SCDCs), extensively smoothing out potential divergences and conflicts.
Unlike Yugoslavia or African countries, more than 2000-year old civilized Burma's history bore no precedence of Balkanization. Bloody religious or racial conflicts common to Yugoslavia or African countries were unheard of. Past wars were caused mainly by feudal monarchs annexing adjacent territories just like feudal rulers of any country in ancient times. Pre- and Post-Independence communal riots were the hangover of colonialist era 'divide and rule' policy. The junta's disinformation on the meaning of federalism has failed among the Burmese people. Burmans who usually turned out victors through military might have now realized the futility of denying other ethnic peoples their rights in accordance with universal norms; the only remaining obstacle being the military junta.
The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted in September 2007 will give a great boost to democratic and ethnic issue in Burma. Another thing to take note is that there are no 135 races in Burma as the junta claims; the true figure is around sixty with most of them less than 50,000 each.
Of course, as in Quebec, Scotland or Flanders, there is and will always be a few who desire secession but majority of each ethnic population only cares for equal rights. Besides, there are no practical means or situation to carry out secession by those who desire it. Even under Prime Minister U Nu in 1958, when ethnics could utilize the Article 140 of the 1947 Constitution to secede legally, no attempt was made but only demands for more rights within the Union framework were presented peacefully and democratically that were but turned down by Ne Win's military junta using brute force.
Armed ethnic groups, particularly ceasefire armies and the people in their territories are basically war-weary. That's why the SPDC is able to coerce and manipulate them. In 1998 September, when some ceasefire groups backed the CRPP in defiance of the junta, local civilian pressure and senior ethnic officers' war-fatigue prompted the groups to back down from war. The concept of non-violence and effects of media which have dominated the world since the end of Cold War have been influencing the armed ethnic groups more than its worth. In Burma, (tripartite) dialogue and non-violence rather than warring are the buzz words.
Balkanization is not the only option in the world; Czechoslovakia had experienced a peaceful 'velvet separation'. Balkanization and anarchy can only be brought about by a freely failing junta which could break apart into multiple rivaling fiefdoms controlled separately by warlord-turned junta generals or Burma army's regional commanders as in post-Siad Barre Somalia, post-Najibullah Afghanistan or post-Mobutu Congo. Unlike them, Burma fortunately has a legitimate and popular democratic leadership well-prepared and highly competent to take over.
Burma's opposition leaders ¬both democratic and ethnic ¬are undoubtedly more competent, qualified and broad-minded than the junta chiefs. Unlike Iraq or Afghanistan, all the atrocities and terror in Burma are work of the SPDC. Tthere are no extremists or terrorists among the opposition. Hence merely checking and removing the SPDC will prevent any further bloodshed.
Presently, junta's senseless or paranoid economic policies are making everyone broke except the generals. Even Singapore's senior statesman Mr. Lee Kuan-yew has dubbed them 'dumb' with regard to economics. No globalization beneficial to the country's people, local businessmen or foreign investors could take hold in Burma. In contrast, the National League for Democracy has been upgrading its leaders and rank-and-file with world level capacity in all issues, anticipating to ride the globalization surf like China and Vietnam. Exiled democratic and ethnic forces are also versed in international efficiencies of peaceful nature after years of training and studying abroad.
The important thing is that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD are not calling for abrupt 'regime change' but rather a negotiated settlement taking into account the Burmese military's role, and finally replacing it definitely in not too distant future. In 2006 February, the NLD offered a transition plan which would recognize the military junta as a de jure government for a transition period that would be legitimized by the parliament elected in 1990. Also in August, 2007, ninety-two elected members of parliament proposed an alternative Road Map offering the SPDC a considerable role in Constitution-drafting and transition processes along with elected NLD and ethnic members of parliament. "Everything is negotiable," Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has said.
The army is to be retained but the military dictatorship must go, this is the opposition's consensus. The pigheaded generals simply turned down all the proposals. These meaningful proposals are far from those clamors for pointless 'gradual change' advocated by unwitting apologists of the obstinate military junta who has been claiming they are executing gradual change for nineteen years which has only resulted in the massacre of Buddhist monks. The junta's gradual change is in fact no change at all but more bloodshed only.
Engagement with the junta has also been called or initiated by many countries including ASEAN, China and Japan who only got its reporter Mr. Nagai killed from close range gunshot during the Saffron Revolution. There has been the Chilston Park seminar in the UK favoring engagement as well. All these has resulted in more deadly militarization with more refugees and more migrants to neighboring countries not to say of diseases, forced labor, rape and more IDPs in the country.
So what can you expect from shoring up a junta that is prepared to kill the most revered section of the nation at the country's holiest shrine on a full-moon day which is regarded as a holy day in Buddhism? Will it be moral or feasible to maintain the status quo or engage with this kind of junta to prevent an imaginary and improbable Balkanization and chaos? To prevent such a scenario there is no other way rather than to replace the regime with the opposition who has people's mandate, through the road map initiated by the latter.
Gamanii is a former student activist and political prisoner of 1974-1975 and then joined ethnic armed groups and spent twenty years in the jungle fighting the military regime. Now, he is working for Burma's exiled government (NCGUB). He has written many articles on Burma. He is an Inthar, an ethnic minority group in Shan State of Burma.
Source: Asian Tribune
39 youth abducted by rebels, taken to Burma
By MANOJ ANAND - Asian Age
Guwahati, February 6, 2008: NSCN (K) rebels are alleged to have abducted 39 youth from Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh and to have taken them to training camps in Burma.
However, at least six of them are said to have returned, but they are not in a position to say anything about their abduction or subsequent release.
The powerful All-Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union has threatened to launch a movement if the state government fails to secure the return of the abducted youth at the earliest.
Security sources said the youth were kidnapped on January 21 and are said to have been taken to the outfit’s hideouts and training camps across the border in Burma. Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu has sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s urgent intervention for their early release. Mr K.D. Singh, the principal secretary to the Arunachal Pradesh chief minister, on Wednesday issued a press release at Itanagar saying that the chief minister has taken up the matter with the Prime Minister.
The Arunachal Pradesh chief minister, in his message to the Prime Minister, said it is a matter of grave concern that militants are able to operate with impunity despite the district being declared "disturbed" under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.
Mr Khandu has also taken up the matter with national security adviser M.K. Narayanan and Maj. Gen. Jitender Singh, GOC 2nd Division, in Tinsukia. He has informed them that the kidnapped youth have reportedly been taken to the outfit’s hideouts and training camps in Burma.
Since this issue assumes international dimension, it is beyond the means of the state government to deal with the problem, the release said. The return of the youth may not be possible unless Burma is asked to drive the separatist group out of its territory, he added. Mr Khandu said this has also severely eroded the people’s faith in the government and that it is high time that a concerted effort is made to ensure their release.
The abduction of so many youth came to light soon Arunachal Pradesh governor J.J. Singh visited the district headquarters last Sunday. No senior police officer in the state was available for comment while Arunachal director-general of police Ajay Chadha was in New Delhi.
Meanwhile, the general secretary of the powerful Northeast Students’ Organisation, Mr Gunjan Haider, told this newspaper that most of those taken by NSCN (K) rebels are school students. "We have set a deadline of 10 days for the government to secure the release of those kidnapped. If the government fails to do so, we students of Arunachal Pradesh will launch a vigorous movement in the state," said Mr Haider.
Talking over the telephone from Itanagar, Mr Haider said they have also sought the intervention of the Arunachal Pradesh governor to ensure that the militants release these boys. He, however, denied the report that some students have come back. "We are in touch with people in Tirap district. All 39 students are still traceless," asserted Mr Haider.
Guwahati, February 6, 2008: NSCN (K) rebels are alleged to have abducted 39 youth from Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh and to have taken them to training camps in Burma.
However, at least six of them are said to have returned, but they are not in a position to say anything about their abduction or subsequent release.
The powerful All-Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union has threatened to launch a movement if the state government fails to secure the return of the abducted youth at the earliest.
Security sources said the youth were kidnapped on January 21 and are said to have been taken to the outfit’s hideouts and training camps across the border in Burma. Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu has sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s urgent intervention for their early release. Mr K.D. Singh, the principal secretary to the Arunachal Pradesh chief minister, on Wednesday issued a press release at Itanagar saying that the chief minister has taken up the matter with the Prime Minister.
The Arunachal Pradesh chief minister, in his message to the Prime Minister, said it is a matter of grave concern that militants are able to operate with impunity despite the district being declared "disturbed" under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.
Mr Khandu has also taken up the matter with national security adviser M.K. Narayanan and Maj. Gen. Jitender Singh, GOC 2nd Division, in Tinsukia. He has informed them that the kidnapped youth have reportedly been taken to the outfit’s hideouts and training camps in Burma.
Since this issue assumes international dimension, it is beyond the means of the state government to deal with the problem, the release said. The return of the youth may not be possible unless Burma is asked to drive the separatist group out of its territory, he added. Mr Khandu said this has also severely eroded the people’s faith in the government and that it is high time that a concerted effort is made to ensure their release.
The abduction of so many youth came to light soon Arunachal Pradesh governor J.J. Singh visited the district headquarters last Sunday. No senior police officer in the state was available for comment while Arunachal director-general of police Ajay Chadha was in New Delhi.
Meanwhile, the general secretary of the powerful Northeast Students’ Organisation, Mr Gunjan Haider, told this newspaper that most of those taken by NSCN (K) rebels are school students. "We have set a deadline of 10 days for the government to secure the release of those kidnapped. If the government fails to do so, we students of Arunachal Pradesh will launch a vigorous movement in the state," said Mr Haider.
Talking over the telephone from Itanagar, Mr Haider said they have also sought the intervention of the Arunachal Pradesh governor to ensure that the militants release these boys. He, however, denied the report that some students have come back. "We are in touch with people in Tirap district. All 39 students are still traceless," asserted Mr Haider.
Wednesday, 6 February 2008
Naypyitaw paralyzed as an ailing Than Shwe clings to power
Larry Jagan
Mizzima News
www.mizzima.com
February 5, 2008 - Burma's junta is in trouble as it faces the future with an ailing general in charge. Senior General Than Shwe is sinking fast, according to sources close to him. "He's losing his mind – forgetting who has been cashiered in the past, becoming increasingly reclusive and trusting no one around him," said a senior military source in Naypyitaw, Burma's new capital – four hundred kilometers north of Rangoon.
At the same time tension within the army is beginning to show. Many officers are resentful that there have been no military promotions for more than eight months because the governing State Peace and Development Council has failed to meet due to Than Shwe's health and mood swings.
Continuous intelligence failures have also forced the senior general to reappoint Major General Kyaw Win, his former deputy intelligence chief under General Khin Nyunt, to a 500,000 kyat salary posting to run the training school. Several other former intelligence officers have also been reappointed, according to sources close to former intelligence officials.
Than Shwe is worried that current military intelligence operations, set up after Khin Nyunt and most of his military intelligence officers were sacked and many given stiff jail sentences, may not be up to the task. They have been unable to find those behind several recent bombings, including one in Naypyitaw. They also failed to predict and prevent last year's mass demonstrations.
But the senior general's woes don't stop there. The economy is continuing to deteriorate rapidly while the international community steps up pressure on the regime to reform. The European Union is expected to increase selective sanctions against the generals in the next few months while U.S. President George Bush vows to keep the Burma issue as a high priority in the dying days of his administration.
In the meantime a group of prominent lawyers in Europe and the United States are preparing in the coming months to lodge a petition against the junta at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, alleging the crackdown on the monks in September was a crime against humanity.
"There's total inertia in Naypyitaw, no one dares make a decision, even in regard to the smallest matters, without approval from the top, which is rarely forthcoming," a senior government official confided to a Western diplomat recently.
"Nothing is happening at all, everyone is waiting for Than Shwe to die," according to a senior Asian government minister, who recently met his Burmese counterpart at an ASEAN function outside the country.
Than Shwe's health is rapidly worsening, according to diplomats, who have seen him recently. "He may be getting Alzheimer's – he periodically forgets things; he recently asked where several officers were, all of whom were sacked last year during the mass retirements of middle ranking officers," according to a government source in Naypyitaw.
"He's rapidly going senile, and now has increasing heart problems," according to another government source. He already suffers from chronic diabetes and has regular bouts of hypertension. Several years ago he also suffered a mild stroke. Now with heart coronary problems and dementia, he is becoming increasingly incapacitated.
Singapore doctors have been making regular visits to Than Shwe's residence in Naypyitaw over the last few months, according to Southeast Asian diplomatic sources.
"For almost a decade now Than Shwe has refused to have his annual medical check-up done by Burmese army doctors for fear that this would leave him vulnerable and in danger of being ousted as he did to General Saw Maung [some fifteen years ago, on the pretext of suffering a nervous break-down]," a former military doctor told Mizzima on the condition of anonymity.
Last month he had a minor cardiac operation, in Naypyitaw. Singapore doctors went to the capital to perform a balloon angioplasty. A major quadruple heart bypass operation though has been scheduled for later this month in Singapore – as the facilities in Burma are too primitive.
This latest health problem has caused Than Shwe to postpone the quarterly meeting of the junta until the end of the month -- the first meeting they will have had since the brutal crackdown on the monk-led demonstrations last August and September in response to price rises.
"The generals have not met for more than eight months, since before the August and September protests, so during that time, apart from the appointment of three regional commanders, there have been no promotions," a Chiang Mai-based Burmese analyst, Win Min, told Mizzima.
That is going to be the first order of the day. Than Shwe also realizes that most senior generals, including regional commanders, actually owe their personal allegiance to Maung Aye and Thura Shwe Mann and not him. This is beginning to trouble him as he fears that his immediate subordinates may be planning a putsch against him.
"For the past twelve months, Than Shwe has been preoccupied with sidelining Maung Aye," a military source told Mizzima. "He has been relatively successful in this, but Maung Aye constantly manages to harass him, block promotions, or disrupt decisions in a fit of spite," he added.
In the latest show of strength, he ordered the Mayor of Rangoon to take down billboards across town urging people to "oppose those pessimistic axe-handles who are relying on America" because he objected to the use of America, preferring instead not to distinguish between foreign enemies.
After the promotions Than Shwe plans a major cabinet reshuffle with many of the old guard being forced to retire, to allow the regional commanders to be appointed to some of these senior posts, and to allow younger officers their chance to become commanders in the field. Until that happens, government administration is at a standstill, according to diplomats in Rangoon.
To make matters worse, many Burmese astrologers are predicting black times for the senior general. The solar eclipse later this week is seen as a bad omen for Than Shwe's health and family fortunes. While the wily old general has survived previous astrological predictions of doom, his grip on power is being increasingly weakened by ill-health and inertia.
"Burma remains a social volcano about to erupt," a major Burmese businessman told Mizzima on condition of anonymity. "It's a cauldron boiling away underneath," according to a senior European diplomat based in Bangkok who has followed Burmese affairs for more than a decade. "Sooner or later it's going to explode," he predicted.
Mizzima News
Mizzima News
www.mizzima.com
February 5, 2008 - Burma's junta is in trouble as it faces the future with an ailing general in charge. Senior General Than Shwe is sinking fast, according to sources close to him. "He's losing his mind – forgetting who has been cashiered in the past, becoming increasingly reclusive and trusting no one around him," said a senior military source in Naypyitaw, Burma's new capital – four hundred kilometers north of Rangoon.
At the same time tension within the army is beginning to show. Many officers are resentful that there have been no military promotions for more than eight months because the governing State Peace and Development Council has failed to meet due to Than Shwe's health and mood swings.
Continuous intelligence failures have also forced the senior general to reappoint Major General Kyaw Win, his former deputy intelligence chief under General Khin Nyunt, to a 500,000 kyat salary posting to run the training school. Several other former intelligence officers have also been reappointed, according to sources close to former intelligence officials.
Than Shwe is worried that current military intelligence operations, set up after Khin Nyunt and most of his military intelligence officers were sacked and many given stiff jail sentences, may not be up to the task. They have been unable to find those behind several recent bombings, including one in Naypyitaw. They also failed to predict and prevent last year's mass demonstrations.
But the senior general's woes don't stop there. The economy is continuing to deteriorate rapidly while the international community steps up pressure on the regime to reform. The European Union is expected to increase selective sanctions against the generals in the next few months while U.S. President George Bush vows to keep the Burma issue as a high priority in the dying days of his administration.
In the meantime a group of prominent lawyers in Europe and the United States are preparing in the coming months to lodge a petition against the junta at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, alleging the crackdown on the monks in September was a crime against humanity.
"There's total inertia in Naypyitaw, no one dares make a decision, even in regard to the smallest matters, without approval from the top, which is rarely forthcoming," a senior government official confided to a Western diplomat recently.
"Nothing is happening at all, everyone is waiting for Than Shwe to die," according to a senior Asian government minister, who recently met his Burmese counterpart at an ASEAN function outside the country.
Than Shwe's health is rapidly worsening, according to diplomats, who have seen him recently. "He may be getting Alzheimer's – he periodically forgets things; he recently asked where several officers were, all of whom were sacked last year during the mass retirements of middle ranking officers," according to a government source in Naypyitaw.
"He's rapidly going senile, and now has increasing heart problems," according to another government source. He already suffers from chronic diabetes and has regular bouts of hypertension. Several years ago he also suffered a mild stroke. Now with heart coronary problems and dementia, he is becoming increasingly incapacitated.
Singapore doctors have been making regular visits to Than Shwe's residence in Naypyitaw over the last few months, according to Southeast Asian diplomatic sources.
"For almost a decade now Than Shwe has refused to have his annual medical check-up done by Burmese army doctors for fear that this would leave him vulnerable and in danger of being ousted as he did to General Saw Maung [some fifteen years ago, on the pretext of suffering a nervous break-down]," a former military doctor told Mizzima on the condition of anonymity.
Last month he had a minor cardiac operation, in Naypyitaw. Singapore doctors went to the capital to perform a balloon angioplasty. A major quadruple heart bypass operation though has been scheduled for later this month in Singapore – as the facilities in Burma are too primitive.
This latest health problem has caused Than Shwe to postpone the quarterly meeting of the junta until the end of the month -- the first meeting they will have had since the brutal crackdown on the monk-led demonstrations last August and September in response to price rises.
"The generals have not met for more than eight months, since before the August and September protests, so during that time, apart from the appointment of three regional commanders, there have been no promotions," a Chiang Mai-based Burmese analyst, Win Min, told Mizzima.
That is going to be the first order of the day. Than Shwe also realizes that most senior generals, including regional commanders, actually owe their personal allegiance to Maung Aye and Thura Shwe Mann and not him. This is beginning to trouble him as he fears that his immediate subordinates may be planning a putsch against him.
"For the past twelve months, Than Shwe has been preoccupied with sidelining Maung Aye," a military source told Mizzima. "He has been relatively successful in this, but Maung Aye constantly manages to harass him, block promotions, or disrupt decisions in a fit of spite," he added.
In the latest show of strength, he ordered the Mayor of Rangoon to take down billboards across town urging people to "oppose those pessimistic axe-handles who are relying on America" because he objected to the use of America, preferring instead not to distinguish between foreign enemies.
After the promotions Than Shwe plans a major cabinet reshuffle with many of the old guard being forced to retire, to allow the regional commanders to be appointed to some of these senior posts, and to allow younger officers their chance to become commanders in the field. Until that happens, government administration is at a standstill, according to diplomats in Rangoon.
To make matters worse, many Burmese astrologers are predicting black times for the senior general. The solar eclipse later this week is seen as a bad omen for Than Shwe's health and family fortunes. While the wily old general has survived previous astrological predictions of doom, his grip on power is being increasingly weakened by ill-health and inertia.
"Burma remains a social volcano about to erupt," a major Burmese businessman told Mizzima on condition of anonymity. "It's a cauldron boiling away underneath," according to a senior European diplomat based in Bangkok who has followed Burmese affairs for more than a decade. "Sooner or later it's going to explode," he predicted.
Mizzima News
RIGHTS-BURMA: 'How Many Monks Must Die Before The UN Moves?'
By Marwaan Macan-Markar - IPSMAE SOT, Thailand, Feb 5 - For one Buddhist monk from Burma, the brutal crackdown of peaceful street protests in the country last September was anything but a victory for the military regime.
The force used by the junta exposed its true character to the world. ‘’The international community really got to know how oppressive the Burmese military regime is,’’ said the monk, leaning slightly forward on the chair he was seated on as if to emphasise the point. ‘’That is one of the advantages of our struggle.’’
‘’There were many people who were killed -- monks, students, the public -- when the military brutally attacked the people who were demonstrating,’’ he went on. ‘’It also showed why the military regime is responsible for the way Burmese Buddhism has been treated. The history is ugly.’’
But the junta is not the only body that comes to mind as he reflects on what has happened over four months after the crackdown of street protests, the likes of which have not been seen in nearly two decades in that South-east Asian country. ‘’I want to ask the U.N. Security Council how many monks and people have to be sacrificed before the U.N. Security Council intervenes,’’ he continues.
And the Ven. Ashin Kovida is the ideal candidate to speak out against both entities. He was in Rangoon when the junta ordered its heavily armed troops to fire at the unarmed demonstrators. He was also the head of the committee of monks that helped shape the march of thousands through the streets of Rangoon during that brief September cry for economic relief and political freedom.
The march that the 15-member Buddhist Monks’ Representative Committee led had over 100,000 people on to the streets of Rangoon, a large number of whom were monks from the former capital wearing deep maroon robes. According to the United Nations, 31 people were killed and hundreds were arrested during the crackdown. But opposition and human rights groups place a much higher casualty rate, with over 100 deaths and over a thousand protesters arrested.
The monks were among the victims, too, states one group, the All-Burma Monks Alliance. Three monks were killed, one of whom was beaten to death, while another died after being tortured, it revealed in late January. The fate of 44 monks and nuns who were arrested when the military raided 53 monasteries across Burma, also known as Myanmar, still remain unknown, it added.
Such oppression appears to have enraged an already beleaguered population. ‘’The people have continued to suffer as they did before September,’’ Kovida said through an interpreter during an interview with IPS. ‘’The struggle against the military regime will continue this year. There is a strong desire among the people to do so.’’
Yet the likelihood of Kovida being in the forefront of new public protests against the junta appears remote. For after the September protests, he had to flee his country for the safety of Mae Sot, a Thai town on the Thai-Burma border, to evade arrest.
It was a flight from oppression that took over three weeks. The thin, 24-year-old monk had to hide in a house some 40 miles out of Rangoon to evade the Burmese forces searching for him, with copies of his photograph in their hand. For his trip to the Thai border, Kovida had to let the hair on his shaved head grow, then have it tinted gold, and to complete the disguise of a hip teenager, he shed his robes for street clothes. He even sported a bracelet for added affect during the bus-ride to the border.
Currently, there are 23 monks in this border town who have fled Burma following the crackdown. They, like Kovida, are all young, in their 20s, confirming a view that gained ground during the September protests that it were the young angry monks from among the country’s 400,000-strong Buddhist clergy who led the way to challenge the junta. And 10 of them, including Kovida, have applied to the U.N. refugee agency to seek political asylum.
But there is more to Kovida’s story than that of a young monk who dared to take on one of this region’s brutal regimes. It is a tale of political enlightenment of a Burmese who grew up in poverty in a small village of 20 houses in the western region of the country. When he arrived in Rangoon in 2003 to further his studies as a monk -- his only route to education -- he was marginally aware of the military’s notorious record since grabbing power in a 1962 coup.
‘’During my free time I began to learn English at the British Council and at the American Centre, and through some friends I was able to see videotapes of what happened in ’88,’’ said Kovida, referring to the bloody crackdown of a pro-democracy uprising in Burma in August 1988, where some 3,000 pro-democracy activists were killed by the military.
That political education beyond the walls of the monastery soon led to a new train of thought. ‘’I started to ask why there was such a big difference between the poor people in my village and the rich in the city,’’ he said. ‘’I wanted to know why there were so many poor people when Burma has so much natural wealth.’’
Before long, his journey of inquiry had led him to the obvious answer. ‘’I realised that the fault was with our military government,’’ he revealed. ‘’I felt very angry thereafter and felt I had to do something.’’
The junta’s decision to raise the price of oil by 500 percent overnight with no warning, last August, added to Kovida’s growing rage. ‘’We began to see more people suffering, children who could not afford to go to school, more children begging for food on the streets,’’ he said. ‘’Many monks could not ignore this because these were the people who always gave the monks food in the mornings.’’
Then came the trigger that saw the transformation of Kovida from a Rangoon outsider to the protest leader in the city. In early September, Burmese soldiers clashed with monks who were protesting against the spike in oil prices in the central town of Pakokku. The soldiers dragged away 10 of the 300 monks who had been protesting and beat them with bamboo sticks.
‘’The military regime failed to apologise for what was done in Pakkoku by the deadline the monks set, Sep. 17,’’ said Kovida. ‘’We then start to organise for a protest in Rangoon but realised there was no leadership. A new committee had to be set up.’’
It was out of such an atmosphere of rage and uncertainty that the Buddhist Monks’ Representative Committee was born. And young Kovida stepped forward when the monks in Rangoon called for a leader to head the committee. ‘’Our plan was for the monks to start marching and lead the crowds,’’ he said. ‘’We agreed that we had to be systematic. And the march had to be peaceful.’’
"We will not secede from Union" - KIO/A
By Kachin News
February 5, 2008
Leaders of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and its armed wing the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) have reiterated that they will not secede from the Union of Burma (Myanmar). The announcement was made at a ceremony during today's Kachin Revolution Day, the participants said.
The most powerful leader in KIO/A, Vice President N'ban La Awng rephrased it "We will not secede from the Union. We'd like the Union (Union of Burma) to be sustainable and united. The Union must be sustainable."
"In the Union, we have to respect each other and have equal rights. Now is the time when the government (Burma's ruling junta) is drafting the country's constitution. If the new constitution is good, we will support it", added the KIO/A vice-president.
N'ban La Awng delivered a 30 minutes well-organized speech to thousands of people such as Kachins and other specially invited guest visitors including Shan, Chinese, Gurkha and Palaung. It was unusual that the speech was translated in Burmese language, according to KIO/A officials.
Before the KIO/A vice-president delivered his speech this noon, the six pages of the 47th anniversary of Revolution Day speech was read out as usual by the KIO/A Chairman and President of Kachin Independence Council (KIC), Salang Kaba Lanyaw Zaw Hra. One can also see the anniversary speech in Kachin at the KIO/A owned website called 'The Kachin Net (www.kachinnet.com)'.
The KIO/A Chairman's speech mainly praised the decade long ceasefire agreement between the KIO/A and the ruling junta. He said that the KIO/A has discussed with civilian mediators whenever they have contemplated taking a new political step.
The speech also mentioned that the KIO/A has submitted a 19-point charter demanding autonomy for Kachin State as well as a genuine federal union of Burma, to the ruling junta.
But, both the special Revolution Day speeches of KIO/A Chairman and Vice-president did not go into the future political options by the KIO/A in the post-national convention scenario—which the Kachins are interested in.
Last year, the KIO/A decided to change the current organization's name (KIO/KIA) in the future and at a suitable time at the key October KIO/A Central Committee meeting in Laiza controlled areas.
Today, the Kachin Revolution Day ceremony started with an hour-long military parade where over 1,000 soldiers participated. It ended with a special dinner hosted by KIO/A Chairman, Lanyaw Zaw Hra, KIO/A officials said.
The KIA was formed by a group of seven Kachin students of Rangoon University called "Seven Stars" in February 5, 1961 for secession. However, the policy was changed for a genuine Federal Union in Burma when Maran Brang Seng became the KIO/A chairman in 1975.
February 5, 2008
Leaders of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and its armed wing the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) have reiterated that they will not secede from the Union of Burma (Myanmar). The announcement was made at a ceremony during today's Kachin Revolution Day, the participants said.
The most powerful leader in KIO/A, Vice President N'ban La Awng rephrased it "We will not secede from the Union. We'd like the Union (Union of Burma) to be sustainable and united. The Union must be sustainable."
"In the Union, we have to respect each other and have equal rights. Now is the time when the government (Burma's ruling junta) is drafting the country's constitution. If the new constitution is good, we will support it", added the KIO/A vice-president.
N'ban La Awng delivered a 30 minutes well-organized speech to thousands of people such as Kachins and other specially invited guest visitors including Shan, Chinese, Gurkha and Palaung. It was unusual that the speech was translated in Burmese language, according to KIO/A officials.
Before the KIO/A vice-president delivered his speech this noon, the six pages of the 47th anniversary of Revolution Day speech was read out as usual by the KIO/A Chairman and President of Kachin Independence Council (KIC), Salang Kaba Lanyaw Zaw Hra. One can also see the anniversary speech in Kachin at the KIO/A owned website called 'The Kachin Net (www.kachinnet.com)'.
The KIO/A Chairman's speech mainly praised the decade long ceasefire agreement between the KIO/A and the ruling junta. He said that the KIO/A has discussed with civilian mediators whenever they have contemplated taking a new political step.
The speech also mentioned that the KIO/A has submitted a 19-point charter demanding autonomy for Kachin State as well as a genuine federal union of Burma, to the ruling junta.
But, both the special Revolution Day speeches of KIO/A Chairman and Vice-president did not go into the future political options by the KIO/A in the post-national convention scenario—which the Kachins are interested in.
Last year, the KIO/A decided to change the current organization's name (KIO/KIA) in the future and at a suitable time at the key October KIO/A Central Committee meeting in Laiza controlled areas.
Today, the Kachin Revolution Day ceremony started with an hour-long military parade where over 1,000 soldiers participated. It ended with a special dinner hosted by KIO/A Chairman, Lanyaw Zaw Hra, KIO/A officials said.
The KIA was formed by a group of seven Kachin students of Rangoon University called "Seven Stars" in February 5, 1961 for secession. However, the policy was changed for a genuine Federal Union in Burma when Maran Brang Seng became the KIO/A chairman in 1975.
Activists Call for Beijing Olympics Boycott
By WAI MOE
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
February 5, 2008
As the Beijing Summer Olympic Games 2008 nears its opening ceremony on August 8, human rights activists have launched a campaign to boycott the games; one of the main reasons being China’s support for the Burmese military junta.
A Web site, beijingolympicsboycott.com, lists ten reasons to boycott the Beijing Olympics, including China’s involvement in Darfur and its human rights record.
The Web site has cleverly remodeled the insignia of the Olympics—the five interconnected rings—to read “NO” in each of the rings.
Regarding Burma, the Web site states: “China funds the Burmese regime, arms it and protests it from international pressure. China builds Burma’s roads and buys its oil, gas and timber, but China won't prod the Burmese government to allow even basic reforms. China uses its veto power to block the UN Security Council from doing anything meaningful for the Burmese people.”
A lobby group based in Washington, DC, the US Campaign for Burma recently said in a report titled “China’s Support Blocks International Diplomacy and Keeps Burma’s Regime in Power,” that China is one of the largest arms suppliers to the Burmese military junta. Since 1989, China has provided the Burmese regime with weapons and military equipment valued at over US $2 billion. “Arms shipments continue to this day,” said the group.
The group reported that in return for the Chinese government’s protection, the Burmese regime discount natural gas from the world market rate of around $7.30 per million BTU (British Thermal Units), to just $4.28 per million BTU for the energy-hungry Chinese government.
“China is the only country with the ability to shield Burma’s military junta from international intervention,” said the group. “China vetoed a peaceful UN Security Council resolution— that had garnered enough votes to pass—that would have strengthened the [UN] Secretary-General’s mandate to resolving the crisis in Burma.”
Chinese intellectuals have also joined in the debate. A few days later after the brutal crackdown on Buddhist monk-led demonstrations in Burma, Chinese bloggers condemned their government’s support for the junta.
A Chinese pro-democracy activist, Fang Jue, said in an article on Web site wenxuecity.com that “China is responsible for the Burmese dictatorship—China is the only country who can speak to the Burmese military regime, but the Chinese government chose to hold back the UN Security Council’s action to Burma.”
Xia Ming, a professor of political science at the City University of New York said at the time that China does not want Burma’s situation to get more intensified and does not want the Burmese military government to be overthrown by the protestors either.
On September 29, The Washington Post warned in its editorial of a potential Olympic boycott over Chinese foreign policy, particular the Burma issue. It noted that China must have realized that one unintended consequence of hosting the 2008 Olympics is unprecedented global scrutiny of Beijing’s retrograde foreign policy.
“The failure of President Hu Jintao’s leadership to forthrightly condemn the repression [in Burma] has had the effect of giving the junta a green light,” said The Post, concluding: “Burma’s saffron-robed monks will join Darfur’s refugees in haunting the Beijing Olympics—which are on their way to becoming a monument to an emerging superpower’s immorality.”
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
February 5, 2008
As the Beijing Summer Olympic Games 2008 nears its opening ceremony on August 8, human rights activists have launched a campaign to boycott the games; one of the main reasons being China’s support for the Burmese military junta.
A Web site, beijingolympicsboycott.com, lists ten reasons to boycott the Beijing Olympics, including China’s involvement in Darfur and its human rights record.
The Web site has cleverly remodeled the insignia of the Olympics—the five interconnected rings—to read “NO” in each of the rings.
Regarding Burma, the Web site states: “China funds the Burmese regime, arms it and protests it from international pressure. China builds Burma’s roads and buys its oil, gas and timber, but China won't prod the Burmese government to allow even basic reforms. China uses its veto power to block the UN Security Council from doing anything meaningful for the Burmese people.”
A lobby group based in Washington, DC, the US Campaign for Burma recently said in a report titled “China’s Support Blocks International Diplomacy and Keeps Burma’s Regime in Power,” that China is one of the largest arms suppliers to the Burmese military junta. Since 1989, China has provided the Burmese regime with weapons and military equipment valued at over US $2 billion. “Arms shipments continue to this day,” said the group.
The group reported that in return for the Chinese government’s protection, the Burmese regime discount natural gas from the world market rate of around $7.30 per million BTU (British Thermal Units), to just $4.28 per million BTU for the energy-hungry Chinese government.
“China is the only country with the ability to shield Burma’s military junta from international intervention,” said the group. “China vetoed a peaceful UN Security Council resolution— that had garnered enough votes to pass—that would have strengthened the [UN] Secretary-General’s mandate to resolving the crisis in Burma.”
Chinese intellectuals have also joined in the debate. A few days later after the brutal crackdown on Buddhist monk-led demonstrations in Burma, Chinese bloggers condemned their government’s support for the junta.
A Chinese pro-democracy activist, Fang Jue, said in an article on Web site wenxuecity.com that “China is responsible for the Burmese dictatorship—China is the only country who can speak to the Burmese military regime, but the Chinese government chose to hold back the UN Security Council’s action to Burma.”
Xia Ming, a professor of political science at the City University of New York said at the time that China does not want Burma’s situation to get more intensified and does not want the Burmese military government to be overthrown by the protestors either.
On September 29, The Washington Post warned in its editorial of a potential Olympic boycott over Chinese foreign policy, particular the Burma issue. It noted that China must have realized that one unintended consequence of hosting the 2008 Olympics is unprecedented global scrutiny of Beijing’s retrograde foreign policy.
“The failure of President Hu Jintao’s leadership to forthrightly condemn the repression [in Burma] has had the effect of giving the junta a green light,” said The Post, concluding: “Burma’s saffron-robed monks will join Darfur’s refugees in haunting the Beijing Olympics—which are on their way to becoming a monument to an emerging superpower’s immorality.”
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